The present invetion relates to a vehicle washing apparatus having an improved brush construction. More specifically, the invention relates to such an apparatus which supports the brush construction for rotation about a generally vertical axis for cleaning the front, a side and rear of the vehicle.
Heretofore, a number of prior art devices and brush constructions have been employed for cleaning vehicles. One such device comprises a "wraparound" brush and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,773 of Hanna. In such a device, the brush is rotated about a vertical axis. As the vehicle is advanced through a vehicle wash, the brush travels from the front of the vehicle, along a side of the vehicle, and along the rear of the vehicle. The brush includes bristles uniformly spaced about and mounted to a central small diameter core. These bristles extend outwardly and against the surfaces of the vehicle being cleaned.
Other brush constructions are also known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,844 of Welter discloses a brush construction having a central core to which a spirally wound pattern of bristles is attached. A special hub construction is utilized for securing the core and supported brush to a central shaft. The shaft is rotated to rotate the brush during vehicle cleaning.
Another vehicle washing apparatus and brush construction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,226 of Hanna. This device has an upper cylindrical rotary brush of a first uniform diameter and lower cylindrical rotary brush of a second smaller uniform diameter. These brushes are stacked endwise and are attached to a vertically disposed rotatable shaft. The upper brush is comprised of a lightweight cloth-like material suitable for scrubbing the side windows of a car. Also, the upper brush is of a larger diameter than the lower brush to facilitate more effective engagement with and cleaning of vehicle window surfaces. In addition, the lower brush is comprised of a material which becomes heavy when laden with water so as to more effectively clean the generally dirty metallic portions of a car below the windows.
These known devices suffer from a number of deficiencies. For example, they exhibit drawbacks in cleaning recesses commonly present immediately above the bumpers at the front and rear of vehicles. In addition, although solyed to some extent by the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,226 of Hanna, such devices can damage antennas, mirrors, license plates and other projecting portions of vehicles.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved vehicle washing apparatus and brush construction directed toward overcoming these and other problems of prior art devices.